STEALTH: Real Fruit Energy Gels.

April 3, 2016

For most of my training, I had kept to organic ways of refuelling. For energy boosts during runs, I have sterred clear of energy gels and snacked on healthier foods when I have struggled with energy during my longer distances.

Honestly, I was sceptical at first. I had heard horror stories of other runners whilst in training on energy gels and it didn’t sound pretty… Mostly to do with toilet habits and stomach issues. Lovvveeellllyyyy. Also, being a ‘typical woman’, I had been scared of the ‘carb’ loading situation, in case I were to overdo it. How many miles were it suitable to consume one pouch? Was my body going to react well to the ingredients? How far away from a toilet should I be when first trying out these bad boys? (Had to be said!)

Reading the packages of other energy gels, I was not impressed. They were full of ingredients that I had not even heard of, let alone pronounce. However, when I read up on the product, STEALTH, I realised if I were to go down the energy gel route, this would be the one for me.

When I had received my box through the post, I was first taken by the packaging. Artistic, in bold black and white colours, STEALTH was very classy looking. STEALTH had made an impression on me very quickly. Appealing to the eye, I excitedly opened the stern packaging.

STEALTH Real Fruit Energy Gel in Banana flavour was the first one that I had wanted to try. (Find on the web site HERE) As most runners love having a banana or two before any race for that burst of energy, I believed it would be a great substitute. Reading the pack, I found that these were also suitable for Vegans. Even as a meat eater, I try to eat as clean as I possibly can when in the lead up to a race. So this was a thumbs up for me. Especially as many of my friends are vegans themselves.

They also give you directions for use, so this was handy for my inexperience. I read that you needed three sachets per hour of intense training. This did sound a lot to me, but then thinking about the amount of time I would be running for (as a marathon trainee) I would need a replacement of energy and this was probably the healthier option of doing so without taking a massive backpack full of goodies with me on my big race!

They are a little sticky, so make sure you have some water to hand to wash it down with, plus you don’t want to take these on an empty stomach. As with any energy gel.

The main reason that I will be sticking with STEALTH energy gel products, is because they taste amazing! Being made with real fruit (and as they describe on their site that they peel the bananas themselves) they are much more authentic tasting compared to any other energy products I have had in the past.

When first trying out the STEALTH gel, I was on a 20 mile run. This had been my second attempt at this amount of mileage and I had wanted to see the difference in performance when taking this energy supplement. I had peaked at around 13 miles, and decided to see what STEALTH was all about at this moment. Within 10 minutes or so… I had definitely picked up my pace. I had felt the boost that many other runners had talked about with similar gels, but the difference was that I felt good about taking this product. It tasted so sweet, so delicious, and being in an exhausted state, it was like the nectar of all gods. In the end, I had beat my personal time by 5 whole minutes. The stats were all there and the proof was in the pudding.

In one sachet, there is 60ml worth of fuel (protein, carbs etc) and there are many other flavours to choose from. Another flavour I had tried was the mango & passion fruit gel. Again, made with real fruit. Check out their site for other runners items including hydration powders and protein mixtures. So STEALTH can fulfil all your bodily needs when in training for a marathon, or anything similar.

I genuinely did love this product. It took me a while to get my head around the idea of energy supplements, but STEALTH changed my perspective on gels. They tasted amazing, as they are made with real fruits and my favourite factor being, that they are also suitable for vegans. They do what it says on the tin, as I had saw with my own eyes. I achieved a faster time and hadn’t felt that I struggled much to get that.

Thanks again to Secret Training for sending me these energy gels to review. They worked a treat. So STEALTH will be my product of choice during my first marathon, the Greater Manchester Marathon on the 10th of April. I am sure I will be needing them!